Tulare County officials confirm a coronavirus outbreak at another nursing facility, spike in cases
Tulare County reported another coronavirus outbreak at a nursing facility and a massive one-day jump of coronavirus cases on Wednesday.
In its daily update, the Tulare County Health and Human Service Agency confirmed 352 people have been infected. That is an increase of 56 cases from the prior day. Health official also confirmed two more people have died of coronavirus related illness, bringing the total number of deaths in the county to 15.
Both deaths were people more than 65 years old who contracted the virus at the Redwood Springs Healthcare Center in Visalia. The facility experienced an outbreak of eight people in early April. Within a week, that number had jumped to 76 people – 42 patients and 34 staff.
As of Monday, six patients at Redwood Springs had died, three of them within one 24-hour period.
Also Wednesday, the county’s public health branch confirmed that 11 patients of Lindsay Gardens Nursing and Rehabilitation Facility have tested positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus.
Administrators at Lindsay Gardens, a 99-bed skilled nursing facility in Lindsay, reached out to Tulare County Public Health as soon as they observed symptomatic residents. Those residents were tested, according to a news release.
Tulare County Public Health staff are working with the facility and the state public health department’s Healthcare-Associated Infection program to ensure guidelines are being followed for the care for COVID-19 patients. This includes keeping the residents separated from those who are non-symptomatic.
A telephone message left at Lindsay Gardens was not returned.
The county health and human services agency is hosting a Spanish Language town hall, 6 p.m. Wednesday on its Facebook page, @TulareCountyHHSA.
Numbers across the region
As of Wednesday, there were 725 cases of coronavirus in the central San Joaquin Valley, with Fresno and Madera still to report daily updates. There have been 28 deaths reported.
Merced County confirmed two additional positive cases on Wednesday, for a county-wide total of 76. Three people there have died there.
Kings County on Tuesday night confirmed a 13th positive cases of coronavirus. The county has seen one related death and three people recover, according to health officials.
Seven people have now died in Fresno County after being diagnosed with the coronavirus. The Fresno County Department of Health confirmed the deaths in its daily update on Tuesday. It also confirmed an additional 29 positive cases, the largest single-day increase in the county to date. There are now 251 positive cases.
This story was originally published April 15, 2020 at 12:10 PM.